(PR) HJTA Wins Another Victory for Taxpayers: Judge Rules in Favor of HJTA, Prop. 23 regarding Ballot Title & Summary

Sacramento --- In a huge blow to the credibility of Attorney General Jerry Brown and opponents of Proposition 23, a Superior Court judge today issued a decision on the Ballot Title and Summary for the measure, calling the Attorney General’s ballot label, title and summary “false,” “misleading,” and “prejudicial.”

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association was the Petitioner in the case.

“This is a major victory for Taxpayers and California voters today,” said Jon Coupal, President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. “Today’s judgment sends a message to the elite ruling establishment in Sacramento: gone are the days when you could pull the wool over the peoples’ eyes and get away with it. Voters have the right to know the truth about the measures they’re voting on at the ballot box, and they are intelligent enough to vote either for or against the initiative based upon the its own merits.”

The Judge ordered significant amendments be made to the official ballot language which will be presented to voters in November. Among them:

• The judge determined that the term “polluters” had such negative connotations that it would give voters a false impression of entities regulated under AB 32. The judge further stated that the term conjured up images of “dirty smokestacks” which did not fairly describe the broad range of emitters regulated under AB 32.
• The judge found that Prop. 23 would not lead to the “abandonment” of the state’s global warming law at all, but instead will merely “suspend” its implementation. He ordered the language to be changed in order to remove references to “abandonment” and replace it with “suspends implementation.”
• The judge’s ruling also makes clear that Proposition 23 only impacts AB 32-related regulations which apply only to greenhouse gas emissions associated with global warming --- not general state pollution laws that protect the environment and the public from smog emissions and those related to asthma and other health risks.

Jon Coupal with the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is available for Media comment throughout the day today.